Direct data communication in infrastructure mode in wireless communication systems

ABSTRACT

In an infrastructure wireless network, a direct data communication mechanism can be implemented for wireless network devices in a common basic service set (BSS) to directly exchange data frames, without transmitting the data frames via an access point. Each of the wireless network devices in the BSS can receive connection information that indicates whether data frames can be directly transmitted to each of the wireless network devices in the BSS. A source wireless network device can determine whether the data frames can be directly transmitted to a destination wireless network device based on analyzing the connection information. If the data frames can be directly transmitted, the source wireless network device can directly transmit the data frames to the destination WLAN device without having to transmit the data frames to the access point, which may improve transmission efficiency.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/768,434 filed Apr. 27, 2010.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to thefield of wireless communication and, more particularly, to direct datacommunication in an infrastructure mode in wireless communicationsystems.

An infrastructure mode in a wireless local area network (WLAN)(“infrastructure WLAN”) provides a mechanism for WLAN devices tocommunicate with each other via a centralized connection point (i.e., anaccess point). For a source WLAN device to communicate with adestination WLAN device in the infrastructure WLAN, the source WLANdevice first transmits data frames to the access point. The access pointthen transmits the received data frames to the destination WLAN device.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments for implementing direct data communication in aninfrastructure mode in wireless communication systems are disclosed. Inone embodiment, it is determined at a first wireless network device of awireless communication network operating in an infrastructure mode, thata data frame is scheduled to be transmitted from the first wirelessnetwork device to a second wireless device of the wireless communicationnetwork. Then, it is determined whether the data frame can be directlytransmitted to the second wireless network device based on connectioninformation received in a beacon frame from an access point of thewireless communication network. The connection information comprises anindication of whether data frames can be directly transmitted to thesecond wireless network device. The data frame is directly transmittedto the second wireless network device, in response to determining thatthe data frame can be directly transmitted from the first wirelessnetwork device to the second wireless network device. The data frame istransmitted to the access point for transmission to the second wirelessnetwork device via the access point, in response to determining that thedata frame cannot be directly transmitted from the first wirelessnetwork device to the second wireless network device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present embodiments may be better understood, and numerous objects,features, and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art byreferencing the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating example operations fordirect data transmission in an infrastructure wireless system;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example format of a connected devices field forcommunicating connection information associated with the WLAN devices inthe BSS;

FIG. 2B illustrates an example format of a data frame that istransmitted to the destination WLAN device;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations at a sourceWLAN device for determining whether data frames can be directlytransmitted to a destination WLAN device;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations at adestination WLAN device for updating information indicating whether dataframes can be directly transmitted to a source WLAN device; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic deviceincluding a mechanism for direct data communication in an infrastructureWLAN.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S)

The description that follows includes exemplary systems, methods,techniques, instruction sequences, and computer program products thatembody techniques of the present inventive subject matter. However, itis understood that the described embodiments may be practiced withoutthese specific details. For instance, although examples refer to directdata communication between WLAN devices, techniques for direct datacommunication as described herein may be implemented for other wirelessstandards and devices, e.g., WiMAX, ZigBee®, Wireless USB devices, etc.In other instances, well-known instruction instances, protocols,structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not toobfuscate the description.

Typical operations for data communication in an infrastructure WLANinvolve a source WLAN device transmitting a data frame to a destinationWLAN device via an access point. The source WLAN device transmits thedata frame to the access point, which, in turn, transmits the data frameto the destination WLAN device. In other words, communication betweenthe source WLAN device and the destination WLAN device involves at leasttwo transmissions of the same data frame. This results in an increase intransmission overhead and consequently results in transmissioninefficiency.

Functionality can be implemented so that the WLAN devices in theinfrastructure WLAN can directly exchange data frames, without firsttransmitting the data frames to the access point. The access point inthe infrastructure WLAN can be configured to transmit a beacon frame tonotify each WLAN device of the other WLAN devices in the infrastructureWLAN. The access point can broadcast device identifiers of the WLANdevices in the infrastructure WLAN and an indication of whether the WLANdevices can directly receive the data frames (i.e., without transmissionvia the access point). Based on this information obtained from theaccess point, a source WLAN device can determine whether a destinationWLAN device can directly receive data frames. If so, the source WLANdevice can directly transmit the data frames to the destination WLANdevice without having to transmit the data frames to the access point.Such a direct data communication between WLAN devices in theinfrastructure WLAN can reduce transmission overhead and can alsoimprove transmission efficiency.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating example operations fordirect data transmission in an infrastructure WLAN. FIG. 1 depicts anaccess point 102, a WLAN device 104, and a WLAN device 110. The WLANdevice 104 wirelessly connects to communicate with the access point 102as depicted by a dashed line 150 between the WLAN device 104 and theaccess point 102. The WLAN device 110 also wirelessly connects tocommunicate with the access point 102 as depicted by a dashed line 152between the WLAN device 110 and the access point 102. The access point102, the WLAN device 104, and the WLAN device 110 together are part of abasic service set (BSS) 100 in the infrastructure WLAN. In aninfrastructure mode, the BSS constitutes an access point and WLANdevices associated with (i.e., connected to) the access point. The WLANdevices in one BSS can communicate with each other via the access point.The WLAN devices in one BSS can also communicate with WLAN devices inanother BSS via their respective access points. As illustrated, in oneexample, the WLAN device 104 comprises a data communication unit 106 anda network information unit 108. The WLAN device 110 comprises a datacommunication unit 112 and a network information unit 114.

In some embodiments, the access point 102 transmits a beacon frame, ateach beacon interval, to update connection information of the WLANdevices 104 and 110 in the BSS 100. The access point 102 indicates adevice identifier (e.g., a MAC address) of each WLAN device in the BSS100, and also indicates whether each WLAN device can directly receivedata frames from another WLAN device. FIG. 2A illustrates an exampleformat of a connected devices field 200 in a beacon frame used forbroadcasting the connection information associated with the WLAN devices104 and 110 in the BSS 100. As depicted in FIG. 2A, in one example, theconnected devices field 200 comprises a WLAN device address field 202, adirect connect flag 204, and reserved fields 206. The WLAN deviceaddress field 202 can indicate a medium access control (MAC) address ofthe WLAN device or other suitable network/device identifier thatuniquely identifies the WLAN device. The direct connect flag 204indicates whether or not the WLAN device can be reached directly byanother WLAN device in the BSS 100. In one example, a value of “1”transmitted in the direct connect flag (i.e., direct connect flag=1) canindicate that the WLAN device can be reached directly by another WLANdevice in the BSS 100. A value of “0” transmitted in the direct connectflag (i.e., direct connect flag=0) can indicate that the WLAN devicecannot be reached directly by another WLAN device in the BSS 100. Insome implementations, the access point 102 may transmit a default valueof “1” in the direct connect flag 204 to indicate that all the WLANdevices in the BSS 100 can directly receive data frames. In otherimplementations, each WLAN device in the BSS 100 may indicate, to theaccess point 102, whether it can directly receive the data frames fromother WLAN devices. It is noted, however, that in other implementations,the connected devices field 200 may not comprise the direct connect flag204. In these embodiments, the WLAN devices may initially store adefault direct connect value of “1” to indicate the other WLAN devicescan directly receive data frames, and then update the direct connectvalue accordingly based on whether attempts to directly communicate withthe WLAN devices are successful.

The access point 102 can transmit the connection information associatedwith the WLAN devices 104 and 110 connected to the access point 102 inthe beacon frame. The access point 102 may update the beacon frame(e.g., vary the length of the beacon frame, etc.) based on a number ofWLAN devices connected to the access point 102. In one implementation,existing reserved fields in the beacon frame (not shown) may be used totransmit the connection information associated with the WLAN devices inthe BSS 100. In another implementation, one or more connected devicesfields 200 may be appended to legacy beacon frame formats to indicatethe connection information associated with the WLAN devices 104 and 110.In one implementation, one connected devices field 200 may be allocatedfor each WLAN device in the BSS 100. For example, if the BSS 100comprises two WLAN devices, two connected devices fields 200 may beappended to the legacy beacon frame. The first connected device field200 may indicate the connection information associated with the firstWLAN device and the second connected device field 200 may indicate theconnection information associated with the second WLAN device.

Each WLAN device in the BSS 100 can receive the beacon frame, read theconnected devices field 200, and can store the connection informationassociated with each of the other WLAN devices in the BSS 100. Forexample, from the beacon frame, the WLAN device 104 may determine andstore the connection information associated with the WLAN device 110. Itis noted, however, that in other examples, the BSS 100 may include otherWLAN devices in addition to the WLAN devices 104 and 110.

In one embodiment, at stage A, the data communication unit 106 in asource WLAN device 104 determines that a data frame is scheduled to betransmitted to a destination WLAN device 110. The data communicationunit 106 may access a transmit data buffer (not shown) to determine thatthe data frame is scheduled to be transmitted to the destination WLANdevice 110. The data communication unit 106 may also determine that thedevice identifier of the destination WLAN device 110 is 0x00.

At stage B, the data communication unit 106 determines that a directconnect flag associated with the destination WLAN device 110 is set to“1”. The direct connect flag can indicate whether the WLAN deviceassociated with the direct connect flag can be reached directly (i.e.,whether data frames can be directly transmitted to the WLAN device). Thedata communication unit 106 may query the network information unit 108to determine the status of the direct connect flag associated with thedestination WLAN device 110. For example, the data communication unit106 may provide the device identifier (e.g., 0x00) of the destinationWLAN device 110 to the network information unit 108. The networkinformation unit 108 can access a connection information table 109 (orother suitable data structure) and can identify an entry 110corresponding to the device identifier of the destination WLAN device110 in the connection information table. From the entry 110, the networkinformation unit 108 can determine, and accordingly notify the datacommunication unit 106, that the direct connect flag associated with thedestination WLAN device 110 is set to “1”. The direct connect flagassociated with the destination WLAN device 110 being set to “1” canindicate that the source WLAN device 104 can directly transmit the dataframe to the destination WLAN device 110.

It is also noted that in some implementations, prior to determiningwhether the direct connect flag associated with the destination WLANdevice 110 is set to “1”, the network information unit 108 can determinewhether the destination WLAN device 110 and the source WLAN device 104belong to the same BSS 100. If so, the network information unit 108 mayaccess the connection information table 109 and determine whether thedirect connect flag associated with the destination WLAN device 110 isset to “1”. Otherwise, the network information unit 108 may indicate tothe data communication unit 106 that the data frame cannot be directlytransmitted to the destination WLAN device 110.

At stage C, the data communication unit 106 directly transmits the dataframe to the destination WLAN device 110. FIG. 2B illustrates an exampleformat of a data frame 250 that is transmitted to the destination WLANdevice 110. The data frame 250 comprises a frame control field 252, afirst address field 256, a second address field 258, a third addressfield 260, control fields 262, and, a frame body 270. The frame controlfield 252 comprises frame control fields 280, a “To” distribution system(DS) field 284, and a “From” DS field 286. The frame control fields 280comprises various fields for indicating a transmission protocol (e.g.,an 802.11 protocol version), a type of frame being transmitted (e.g.,0000 can be transmitted to indicate a data frame), etc. The “To” DSfield 284 and the “From” DS field 286, respectively, indicate whetherthe data frame 250 is destined for the distribution system (i.e., theaccess point 102) or transmitted from the distribution system. Theaddress fields typically indicate the address (e.g., MAC address orother device identifier) of the source WLAN device 104, the address ofthe destination WLAN device 110, an identifier (e.g., a service setidentifier or SSID) of the access point 102, etc. In FIG. 1, the datacommunication unit 106 determines that the data frame can be directlytransmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. Therefore, the datacommunication unit 106 can indicate the address of the destinationdevice 110 (e.g., the device identifier 0x00) in the first address field256, the address of the source WLAN device 104 (e.g., the deviceidentifier 0x01) in the second address field 258, and the identifier ofthe access point 102 in the third address field 260. The datacommunication unit 106 may also set the “To” DS field 284 and the “From”DS field 280 in the frame control field 252 to “0” to indicate that thesource WLAN device 104 will directly transmit the data frame to thedestination WLAN device 110. The control fields 262 can compriseadditional address fields, can indicate quality of service (QoS)information, can indicate communication medium access durations, etc.The frame body 270 can comprise the information scheduled to betransmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. It is noted, however,that in other embodiments the data communication unit 106 can beconfigured to transmit any suitable values in the address fields 256,258, and 260 and in the frame control field 252 to indicate that thedata frame is being transmitted directly by the source WLAN device 104to the destination WLAN device 110. Moreover, it should be understoodthat the data frame format 250 depicted in FIG. 2B is an example.Depending on the type of data to be transmitted, some fields depicted inthe data frame 250 may not be used, the data frame 250 may compriseadditional fields, and/or the length of the data fields may vary.

At stage D, the data communication unit 112 in the destination WLANdevice 110 receives the data frame from the source WLAN device 104 anddetermines that the source WLAN device 104 transmitted the data framedirectly to the destination WLAN device 110. The data communication unit112 may read the address fields 256, 258, and 260 in the received dataframe 250 and may determine whether the data frame was transmitted bythe access point 102 or by another WLAN device in the BSS 100. Forexample, the data communication unit 112 may determine that secondaddress field 258 indicates the address of the source WLAN device 110and that the third address field 260 indicates the identifier of theaccess point 102. This can serve as an indication that the source WLANdevice 104 directly transmitted the data frame to the destination WLANdevice 110. The data communication unit 112 may also determine that thereceived data frame 250 was directly transmitted by the source WLANdevice 104 based on reading the “To” DS field 282 and the “From” DSfield 284 in the frame control field 252. For example, the datacommunication unit 112 may determine that the “To” DS field 282 and the“From” DS field 284 are set to “0”. This can serve as an indication thatthe access point 102 did not transmit the data frame to the WLAN device110.

At stage E, the network information unit 114 sets a direct connect flagassociated with the source WLAN device 104 to “1”. On determining thatthe source WLAN device 104 directly transmitted the data frame, the datacommunication unit 112 can notify the network information unit 114 toupdate the direct connect flag associated with the source WLAN device104. Receiving the data frame directly from the source WLAN device 104can serve as an indication that the source WLAN device 104 can alsodirectly receive data frames from the destination WLAN device 110. Inone example, the data communication unit 112 can provide the deviceidentifier associated with the source WLAN device 104 to the networkinformation unit 114 and can direct the network information unit 114 toset the direct connect flag associated with the source WLAN device to“1”. The network information unit 114 can, in turn, access itsconnection information table 115 and set the direct connect flagassociated with the source WLAN device to “1”.

It is noted, however, that in some circumstances the network informationunit 108 may indicate, to the data communication unit 106, that the dataframe cannot be directly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110.For example, the network information unit 108 may determine that thedata frame cannot be directly transmitted to the destination WLAN device110 if the network information unit 108 cannot locate the deviceidentifier associated with the destination WLAN device 110 in theconnection information table 109. As another example, the networkinformation unit 108 may also determine that the data frame cannot bedirectly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110 if the networkinformation unit 108 determines that the destination WLAN device 110 isnot in the same BSS 100 as the source WLAN device 104 (i.e., if thedestination WLAN device 110 and the source WLAN device 104 are notconnected to the same access point 102). As yet another example, thenetwork information unit 108 may determine that the data frame cannot bedirectly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110 if it isdetermined that the direct connect flag associated with the destinationWLAN device 110 is set to “0” (i.e., the destination WLAN device 110 isconfigured to only exchange data frames with other WLAN devices via theaccess point 102). In such cases, the data communication unit 106 of thesource WLAN device 104 can transmit the data frame to the access point102. In the data frame format 250 of FIG. 2B, the data communicationunit 106 can set the “To” DS field 282 to “1”, the “From” DS field 284to “0”, the first address field 256 to the identifier of the accesspoint 102, the second address field 258 to the address of the sourceWLAN device 104, and the third address field 260 to the address of thedestination WLAN device 110. On receiving the data frame, the accesspoint 102 can appropriately route the data frame to the destination WLANdevice 110 (e.g., via other access points, via an Ethernet network, viaother communication networks, etc.).

It also should be noted that although FIG. 1 depicts the networkinformation unit 108 indicating a status of the direct connect flagassociated with the destination WLAN device 110, embodiments are not solimited. In some implementations, the network information unit 108 mayalso implement functionality to update the connection informationassociated with the connected WLAN devices in the BSS 100 based onanalyzing the connected devices field 200 in received beacon frames. Thenetwork information unit 108 may also update the connection informationassociated with the WLAN devices in the BSS 100 based on notificationsfrom the data communication unit 106 (as described in stage E). In someimplementations, the network information unit 108 may also communicatewith the access point 102 and request connection information updates.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram (“flow”) 300 illustrating example operations ata source WLAN device for determining whether data frames can be directlytransmitted to a destination WLAN device. The flow 300 begins at block302.

At block 302, it is determined that a data frame is scheduled to betransmitted to a destination WLAN device. In the example of FIG. 1, thedata communication unit 106 of the source WLAN device 104 can determinethat the data frame is scheduled to be transmitted to the destinationWLAN device 110. The data communication unit 106 may access a transmitdata buffer and determine that the data frame is scheduled to betransmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. The data communicationunit 106 may also determine a device identifier (e.g., a MAC address) ofthe destination WLAN device 110. The flow continues at block 304.

At block 304, it is determined whether the destination WLAN device andthe source WLAN device are part of a common basic service set (BSS). Forexample, the data communication unit 106 may determine whether thedestination WLAN device 110 and the source WLAN device 104 are part ofthe same BSS 100. In other words, based on knowledge that the sourceWLAN device 104 is connected to the access point 102, the datacommunication unit 106 may determine whether the destination WLAN device110 is also connected to the access point 102. The data communicationunit 106 may query the network information unit 108 to determine whetherthe destination WLAN device 110 is also connected to the access point102. The network information unit 108 may access the connectioninformation table 109 to determine whether the connection informationtable 109 comprises connection information about the destination WLANdevice 110. It is noted that as part of a beacon frame, the access point102 transmits connection information associated with all WLAN devices inthe BSS 100. Therefore, absence of the connection information associatedwith the destination WLAN device 100 in the connection information table109 can serve as an indication that the destination WLAN device 110 isnot connected to the access point 102. If it is determined that thedestination WLAN device and the source WLAN device are part of a commonBSS, the flow continues at block 306. Otherwise, the flow continues atblock 316.

At block 306, it is determined whether a direct connect flag associatedwith the destination WLAN device indicates that the data frame can bedirectly transmitted to the destination WLAN device. For example, basedon knowledge of the device identifier of the destination WLAN device110, the network information unit 108 can determine whether the directconnect flag associated with the destination WLAN device 110 indicatesthat the data frame can be directly transmitted to the destination WLANdevice 110. In one implementation, the network information unit 108 candetermine whether the direct connect flag associated with thedestination WLAN device 110 is set to “1” by accessing the connectioninformation table 109. If the direct connect flag is set to “1”, thisindicates that the data frame can be directly transmitted to thedestination WLAN device 110. Alternately, if the direct connect flag isset to “0”, this indicates that the data frame should be transmitted tothe destination WLAN device 110 via the access point 102. The networkinformation unit 108 can transmit a notification to the datacommunication unit 106 indicating whether the data frame can be directlytransmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. If it is determined thatthe direct connect flag associated with the destination WLAN deviceindicates that the data frame can be directly transmitted to thedestination WLAN device, the flow continues at block 308. Otherwise, theflow continues at block 316.

At block 308, the data frame is transmitted directly to the destinationWLAN device. For example, the data communication unit 106 transmits thedata frame to the destination WLAN device 110. With reference to thedata frame 250 of FIG. 2B, the data communication unit 106 can transmitthe address of the destination WLAN device in the first address field256, the address of the source WLAN device 104 in the second addressfield 258, and an access point identifier in the third address field 260to indicate that the source WLAN device 104 directly transmitted thedata frame to the destination WLAN device 110. The data communicationunit 106 can also set the “To” DS field 282 and the “From” DS field 284in the frame control field 252 to “0” to indicate that the source WLANdevice 104 directly transmitted the data frame to the destination WLANdevice 110. The flow continues at block 310.

At block 310, it is determined whether an acknowledgment frame wasreceived from the destination WLAN device. For example, the datacommunication unit 106 determines whether the acknowledgement for thedata frame was received from the destination WLAN device 110. The datacommunication unit 106 may wait for a predefined time interval toreceive the acknowledgement frame from the destination WLAN device 110.If it is determined that the acknowledgment frame was not received fromthe destination WLAN device 110, the flow continues at block 312.Otherwise, if it is determined that the acknowledgement was receivedfrom the destination WLAN device 110, the transmission was successfuland the flow ends.

At block 312, it is determined whether the data frame should beretransmitted. For example, the data communication unit 106 candetermine whether the data frame should be retransmitted to thedestination WLAN device 110. In determining whether the data frameshould be retransmitted, the data communication unit 106 may determineif a predefined retransmission time interval has expired. Also, the datacommunication unit 106 may determine if a maximum number of allowableretransmission attempts has been reached. If either the predefinedretransmission time interval has expired or the maximum number ofretransmission attempts has been reached, the data communication unit106 can determine not to retransmit the data frame to the destinationWLAN device 110. If it is determined that the data frame should beretransmitted, the flow continues at block 308 where the data frame isretransmitted to the destination WLAN device. If it is determined thatthe data frame should not be retransmitted, the flow continues at block314.

At block 314, if the direct transmission to the destination WLAN device110 fails, the direct connect flag associated with the destination WLANdevice is updated to indicate that data frames cannot be directlytransmitted to the destination WLAN device. For example, the networkinformation unit 108 can update the direct connect flag associated withthe destination WLAN device 110 to indicate that the data frames cannotbe directly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. The networkinformation unit 108 can update the direct connect flag associated withthe destination WLAN device 110 in response to receiving a notificationfrom the data communication unit 106 that the direct transmission to thedestination WLAN device 110 failed. In one example, the networkinformation unit 108 can set the direct connect flag associated with thedestination WLAN device 110 to “0” to indicate that data frames cannotbe directly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. However, thenetwork information unit 108 can set the direct connect flag associatedwith the destination WLAN device 110 to other suitable predefined valueto indicate that data frames cannot be directly transmitted to thedestination WLAN device 110. After determining that the data framecannot be directly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110, thedata communication unit 106 of the WLAN device 104 can transmit thepending data frame and subsequent data frames intended for thedestination WLAN device 110 via the access point 102. From block 314,the flow continues at block 316.

At block 316, the data frame is transmitted to the access point fortransmission to the destination WLAN device. For example, the datacommunication unit 106 transmits the data frame to the access point 102.The flow 300 moves from block 304 to block 316 if the data communicationunit 106 determines that the destination WLAN device 110 and the sourceWLAN device 104 are not part of the same BSS 100. The flow 300 alsomoves from block 306 to block 316 if the data communication unit 106determines that the direct connect flag associated with the destinationWLAN device 110 indicates that the data frame cannot be directlytransmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. Furthermore, the flow300 moves from block 314 to block 316 if the data communication unit 106determines that attempts to directly transmit the data frame to thedestination WLAN device 110 have failed. The access point 102 canaccordingly route the data frame (e.g., via other access points, viaad-hoc WLAN networks, via an Ethernet network, etc.) to the destinationWLAN device 110. Alternately, the access point 102 may wait until thedestination WLAN device 110 connects to the access point 102. From block316, the flow ends.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram 400 illustrating example operations at adestination WLAN device for updating information indicating whether dataframes can be directly transmitted to a source WLAN device. The flow 400begins at block 402.

At block 402, a data frame is received at a destination WLAN device. Forexample, the data communication unit 112 in the destination WLAN device110 may receive the data frame. In some implementations, the datacommunication unit 112 may receive the data frame directly from thesource WLAN device 104. In other implementations, the data communicationunit 112 may receive the data frame from the access point 102. The flowcontinues at block 404.

At block 404, the address of the source WLAN device is determined fromthe received data frame. For example, the data communication unit 112can determine the address of the source WLAN device 104 from thereceived data frame. In one implementation, the data communication unit112 can read the second address field 258 in the received data frame 250of FIG. 2B and determine the address of the source WLAN device 104. Theflow continues at block 406.

At block 406, it is determined whether the destination WLAN device andthe source WLAN device are part of a common BSS. For example, thenetwork information unit 114 of the destination WLAN device 110 candetermine whether the destination WLAN device 110 and the source WLANdevice 104 are part of the same BSS 100. In other words, the networkinformation unit 114 can determine whether both the destination WLANdevice 110 and the source WLAN device 104 are connected to the accesspoint 102. The network information unit 114 can access the connectioninformation table 115 comprising a list of device identifiers of WLANdevices connected to the access point 102. The network information unit114 can determine whether the address of the source WLAN device 104 islisted in the connection information table 115. If it is determined thatthe destination WLAN device and the source WLAN device are part of thesame BSS, the flow contains at block 408. Otherwise, the flow continuesat block 410, where the received data frame is processed.

At block 408, it is determined whether the data frame was directlyreceived from the source WLAN device. For example, network informationunit 114 can determine whether the data frame was directly received fromthe source WLAN device 104. The network information unit 114 can read a“To” DS field 282 and a “From” DS field 284 in the frame control field252 of the data frame 250 and can determine whether the data frame wasdirectly received from the source WLAN device 104. For example, thenetwork information unit 114 can determine that the data frame wasdirectly received from the source WLAN device 104 if the values in the“To” DS field 282 and a “From” DS field 284 are “0”. The networkinformation unit 114 may also read the second address field 258 in thereceived data frame 250 and determine that the source WLAN device 104directly transmitted the data frame to the destination WLAN device 110.If it is determined that the data frame was directly received from thesource WLAN device, the flow continues at block 410. Otherwise, the flowcontinues at block 412.

At block 410, a direct connect flag associated with the source WLANdevice is updated to indicate that data frames can be directlytransmitted to the source WLAN device. For example, the networkinformation unit 114 can update the direct connect flag associated withthe source WLAN device 104 to indicate that the data frames can bedirectly transmitted to the source WLAN device 104. In one example, thenetwork information unit 114 can set the direct connect flag associatedwith the source WLAN device 104 to “1” to indicate that the data framescan be directly transmitted to the source WLAN device 104. However, itis noted that the network information unit 114 can set the directconnect flag associated with the source WLAN device 104 to othersuitable predefined values to indicate that data frames can be directlytransmitted to the source WLAN device 104. The flow contains at block412.

At block 412, the received data frame is processed. For example, thedata communication unit 112 and/or various other processing componentsin the destination WLAN device 110 can process the received data frame.From block 412, the flow ends.

It should be understood that the depicted diagrams (FIGS. 1-4) areexamples meant to aid in understanding embodiments and should not beused to limit embodiments or limit scope of the claims. Embodiments mayperform additional operations, fewer operations, operations in adifferent order, operations in parallel, and some operationsdifferently. For example, the operations for determining whether thesource WLAN device 104 and the destination WLAN device 110 are part ofthe same BSS (block 304 in FIG. 3) may be performed in conjunction withthe operations for determining whether the data frame can be directlytransmitted to the destination WLAN device (block 306). In other words,because the access point only transmits connection information for WLANdevices within the BSS 100, the direct connect flag can serve as anindication of whether the source and the destination WLAN devices arepart of the same BSS 100 and also whether the data frame can be directlytransmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. For example, the sourceWLAN device 104 can read the direct connect flag associated with thedestination WLAN device 110 and determine that the direct connect flagis set to “1”. Accordingly, the source WLAN device 104 can confirm thatthe destination and the source WLAN devices are part of the same BSS andthat the data frame can be directly transmitted to the destination WLANdevice 110.

In some implementations, if the destination WLAN device 110 determinesthat the source WLAN device 104 is no longer in the BSS (e.g., has beendisconnected from the access point 102, has joined another BSS 100,etc.), the destination WLAN device 110 may remove the source WLAN device104 from the connection information table 115, may set the directconnect flag associated with the source WLAN device 104 to “0”, etc. Inanother embodiment, however, the destination WLAN device 110 may nothave the ability to detect whether a WLAN device has left or joined theBSS 100. The access point 102 can update the connection information toreflect a new WLAN device in the BSS 100 and/or indicate that a WLANdevice has left the BSS 100. The access point 102 can transmit theupdated connection information in a next beacon interval to all the WLANdevices in the BSS 100. The WLAN devices, in turn, can update theirrespective connection information tables to add new WLAN devices, removeWLAN devices that have left the BSS, etc.

Lastly, although FIGS. 1-4 depict a 1-bit direct connect flag having twovalid values—one that indicates ability to directly receive data framesand the other that indicates inability to directly receive data frames,embodiments are not so limited. In some implementations, the directconnect flag can comprise two or more bits and can be associated withmore than two valid values. A first value of the direct connect flag(e.g., value 01) can indicate that the WLAN device can directly receivedata frames from another WLAN device. A second value of the directconnect flag (e.g., value 00) can indicate that the WLAN device cannotdirectly receive data frames from another WLAN device (i.e., the dataframes can be received via an access point). A third value of the directconnect flag (e.g., value 11) can indicate that a direct connect statusof the WLAN device is unknown. For example, if the access point 102 doesnot know whether the WLAN device can directly receive data frames fromanother WLAN device, the access point 102 may transmit the third valueof the direct connect flag as part the connection information associatedwith the WLAN device. If a source WLAN device 104 detects the thirdvalue of the direct connect flag associated with a destination WLANdevice 110, the source WLAN device 104 can attempt to directlycommunicate with the destination WLAN device 110. If directcommunication is successful, the source WLAN device 104 can update theconnection information table to indicate that data frames can bedirectly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. If directcommunication fails, the source WLAN device 104 can update theconnection information table to indicate that data frames cannot bedirectly transmitted to the destination WLAN device 110. In someimplementations, the source WLAN device 104 may also notify the accesspoint 102 of whether or not data frames can be directly transmitted tothe destination WLAN device 110. The access point 102 can update itsconnection information and transmit the updated connection informationat a next beacon interval.

Embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardwareaspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,”“module” or “system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the inventive subjectmatter may take the form of a computer program product embodied in anytangible medium of expression having computer usable program codeembodied in the medium. The described embodiments may be provided as acomputer program product, or software, that may include amachine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which may beused to program a computer system (or other electronic device(s)) toperform a process according to embodiments, whether presently describedor not, since every conceivable variation is not enumerated herein. Amachine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processingapplication) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Amachine-readable medium may be a non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium, or a transitory machine-readable signal medium. Amachine-readable storage medium may include, for example, but is notlimited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); opticalstorage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read onlymemory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory(e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or other types of tangiblemedium suitable for storing electronic instructions. A machine-readablesignal medium may include a propagated data signal with computerreadable program code embodied therein, for example, an electrical,optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signal (e.g., carrierwaves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.). Program code embodiedon a machine-readable medium may be transmitted using any suitablemedium, including, but not limited to, wireline, wireless, optical fibercable, RF, or other communications medium.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the embodiments maybe written in any combination of one or more programming languages,including an object oriented programming language such as Java,Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on a user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork, including a local area network (LAN), a personal area network(PAN), or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device 500including a mechanism for direct data communication in an infrastructureWLAN. In some implementations, the electronic device 500 may be one of apersonal computer (PC), a laptop, a netbook, a mobile phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), or other electronic systems comprising a WLANdevice. The electronic device 500 includes a processor device 502(possibly including multiple processors, multiple cores, multiple nodes,and/or implementing multi-threading, etc.). The electronic device 500includes a memory unit 506. The memory unit 506 may be system memory(e.g., one or more of cache, SRAM, DRAM, zero capacitor RAM, TwinTransistor RAM, eDRAM, EDO RAM, DDR RAM, EEPROM, NRAM, RRAM, SONOS,PRAM, etc.) or any one or more of the above already described possiblerealizations of machine-readable media. The electronic device 500 alsoincludes a bus 510 (e.g., PCI, ISA, PCI-Express, HyperTransport®,InfiniBand®, NuBus, etc.), and network interfaces 504 that include atleast one wireless network interface (e.g., a WLAN interface, aBluetooth® interface, a WiMAX interface, a ZigBee® interface, a WirelessUSB interface, etc.).

The electronic device 500 also includes a WLAN device 508. The WLANdevice 508 comprises a data communication unit 520 coupled to a networkinformation unit 522. The network information unit 522 implementsfunctionality for determining whether data frames can be directlytransmitted to a destination WLAN device based on determining a statusof a direct connect flag associated with the destination WLAN device, asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 1-4. The data communication unit520 can transmit the data frames directly to the destination WLAN deviceor via an access point based on indications from the network informationunit 522, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1-4. It should benoted that any one of the above-described functionalities might bepartially (or entirely) implemented in hardware and/or on the processordevice 502. For example, the functionality may be implemented with anapplication specific integrated circuit, in logic implemented in theprocessor device 502, in a co-processor on a peripheral device or card,etc. Further, realizations may include fewer or additional componentsnot illustrated in FIG. 5 (e.g., additional network interfaces,peripheral devices, etc.). The processor device 502 and the networkinterfaces 504 are coupled to the bus 510. Although illustrated as beingcoupled to the bus 510, the memory unit 506 may be coupled to theprocessor device 502.

While the embodiments are described with reference to variousimplementations and exploitations, it will be understood that theseembodiments are illustrative and that the scope of the inventive subjectmatter is not limited to them. In general, techniques for direct datacommunication in an infrastructure WLAN as described herein may beimplemented with facilities consistent with any hardware system orhardware systems. Many variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements are possible.

Plural instances may be provided for components, operations, orstructures described herein as a single instance. Finally, boundariesbetween various components, operations, and data stores are somewhatarbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context ofspecific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionalityare envisioned and may fall within the scope of the inventive subjectmatter. In general, structures and functionality presented as separatecomponents in the exemplary configurations may be implemented as acombined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionalitypresented as a single component may be implemented as separatecomponents. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of the inventive subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a first wireless devicecoupled to a wireless network operating in an infrastructure mode, themethod comprising: determining that a data frame can be directlytransmitted from the first wireless device to a second wireless devicecoupled to the wireless network based, at least in part, on a connectioninformation, wherein the connection information is included in a beaconframe received from an access point in the wireless network during abeacon interval.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the connectioninformation includes a direct connect flag associated with the secondwireless device to indicate that the data frame can be directlytransmitted to the second wireless device.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: transmitting the data frame directly from the firstwireless device to the second wireless device in response to determiningthat the data frame can be directly transmitted to the second wirelessdevice; determining that an acknowledgement frame for the transmitteddata frame was not received from the second wireless device; andupdating a direct connect flag associated with the second wirelessdevice to indicate that the data frame cannot be directly transmitted tothe second wireless device.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: retransmitting the data frame to the second wireless devicein response determining that the acknowledgement frame for thetransmitted data frame was not received.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising: determining at least one of an expiration of aretransmission time interval and a maximum number of attemptedretransmissions; and updating a direct connect flag associated with thesecond wireless device to indicate that the data frame cannot bedirectly transmitted to the second wireless device.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein determining that the data frame can be directlytransmitted to the second wireless device further comprises: determininga device identifier associated with the second wireless device; andidentifying the connection information associated with the secondwireless device based, at least in part, on the device identifier. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second data framefrom a third wireless device; determining that the first wireless deviceand the third wireless device are part of the wireless network operatingin the infrastructure mode based, at least in part, on the connectioninformation; determining that the second data frame was directlyreceived from the third wireless device; and updating a direct connectflag associated with the third wireless device to indicate that dataframes can be directly transmitted from the first wireless device to thethird wireless device.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstwireless device and the second wireless device are wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) devices.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein thedetermining that the data frame can be directly transmitted to thesecond wireless device further comprises: identifying the connectioninformation associated with the second wireless device, wherein theconnection information includes the direct connect flag; determiningthat the data frame can be directly transmitted to the second wirelessdevice in response to determining that the direct connect flagassociated with the second wireless device has a first predefined value;and determining that the data frame cannot be directly transmitted tothe second wireless device in response to determining that the directconnect flag associated with the second wireless device has a secondpredefined value.
 10. A first wireless device comprising: a networkinterface; a data communication unit configured to receive a beaconframe from an access point transmitted during a beacon interval of awireless network operating in an infrastructure mode; and a networkinformation unit configured to determine that a data frame can bedirectly transmitted from the first wireless device to a second wirelessdevice coupled to the wireless network, based, at least in part, on aconnection information included in the beacon frame.
 11. The device ofclaim 10, wherein the connection information includes a direct connectflag associated with the second wireless device to indicate that thedata frame can be directly transmitted to the second wireless device.12. The device of claim 10, wherein the data communication unit isfurther configured to: transmit the data frame directly from the firstwireless device to the second wireless device in response to determiningthat the data frame can be directly transmitted to the second wirelessdevice; and determine that an acknowledgement frame for the transmitteddata frame was not received from the second wireless device.
 13. Thedevice of claim 12, wherein the network information unit is furtherconfigured to update a direct connect flag associated with the secondwireless device to indicate that the data frame cannot be directlytransmitted to the second wireless device.
 14. The device of claim 12,wherein the data communication unit is further configured to retransmitthe data frame to the second wireless device in response to determiningthat the acknowledgement frame for the transmitted data frame was notreceived.
 15. The device of claim 14, wherein the network informationunit is further configured to: determine that at least one of anexpiration of a retransmission time interval and a maximum number ofattempted retransmissions; and update a direct connect flag associatedwith the second wireless device to indicate that the data frame cannotbe directly transmitted to the second wireless device.
 16. Anon-transitory machine-readable storage media having machineinstructions stored therein, the machine executable instructionscomprising instructions to: determine, at a first wireless devicecoupled to a wireless network operating in an infrastructure mode, thata data frame can be directly transmitted from the first wireless deviceto a second wireless device coupled to the wireless network based, atleast in part, on a connection information, wherein the connectioninformation is included in a beacon frame received from an access pointin the wireless network during a beacon interval.
 17. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage media of claim 16, wherein the connectioninformation included in the beacon frame includes a direct connect flagassociated with the second wireless device to indicate that the dataframe can be directly transmitted to the second wireless device.
 18. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 16, furthercomprising operations to: transmit the data frame directly from thefirst wireless device to the second wireless device in response todetermining that the data frame can be directly transmitted to thesecond wireless device; determine that an acknowledgement frame for thetransmitted data frame was not received from the second wireless device;and update a direct connect flag associated with the second wirelessdevice to indicate that the data frame cannot be directly transmitted tothe second wireless device.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage media of claim 18, further comprising operations to: retransmitthe data frame to the second wireless device in response to determiningthat the acknowledgement frame was not received from the second wirelessdevice; determine at least one of an expiration of a retransmission timeinterval and a maximum number of attempted retransmissions; and update adirect connect flag associated with the second wireless device toindicate that the data frame cannot be directly transmitted to thesecond wireless device.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable storagemedia of claim 16, further comprising operations to: receive a seconddata frame from a third wireless device; determine that the firstwireless device and the third wireless device are part of the wirelessnetwork operating in the infrastructure mode based, at least in part, onthe connection information; determine that the second data frame wasdirectly received from the third wireless device; and update a directconnect flag associated with the third wireless device to indicate thatdata frames can be directly transmitted from the first wireless deviceto the third wireless device.